Chiropractic care also includes the sub-specialty of internal disorders and functional medicine. Depending on the state of the practitioners license, they may say they provide "functional medicine", "functional nutrition", or "chiropractic internal medicine". These practitioners are also called "internists" or "chiropractic internists".

A Chiropractic Internist is a Chiropractic Physician who practices on a deeper level than the "average" chiropractor, and looks at the entire system of health and healing when dealing with conditions. As trained primary care physicians, they have the ability to diagnose and manage all types of conditions, through natural methods. Just as the traditional naturopaths have done in prior years, Chiropractors focus on stimulating the body's ability to heal. Unlike the current naturopaths, Chiropractic Internists continue to focus on lifestyle modifications, clean living, healthy eating, and nutritional support (current ND's use primarily standard drugs to accomplish disease management instead of health management). The key difference of a Chiropractic Internist is that he/she has the view that all healing comes initially from the nervous system, and therefore, stimulating the nervous system, is always of importance.

In Washington State, the laws are some of the most restrictive in the US, allowing the Doctor of Chiropractic to only practice at a fraction of their ability, specifically treating the "subluxation". Therefore this sub-speciality is very limited to only 1 practicing Chiropractic Internist, and that is Dr. Christopher Wellwood. As a published author, in a leading journal of integrative medicine, on the relationships between thyroid conditions, autoimmunity, and cortisol levels, he has the unique ability to help those who are suffering from chronic conditions. Dr. Wellwood has limited his practice to "neuro-endocrinology", meaning the relationship between the nervous system and the endocrine system. Specifically, he sees: Adrenal Dysfunction, Allergies, and AutoImmune conditions.

Diagnostic Services

At the Natural Health & Pain Relief Center, we divide our services into 2 parts: Diagnosis and Treatment. Sometimes, people want to know what is going on with them without being treated for it. Either it is for a second opinion, a consultation from another doctor, or if they just "want to know" for their own well-being. Because Dr. Wellwood has such an extensive background in internal diagnosis/functional medicine/functional nutrition as well as neurology, pain management, and alternative treatments, we have the opportunity to provide you with the answers you may need. And, if we cannot, then we probably know of someone who can.

Our treatment approach is simple: find out what is wrong, and do what we can to fix it. People generally fall into 2 categories: they have had their pain for a short while, or they have had their pain for a long while.

These two types of people are typically put into two types of testing: 1. The first, new pain person, we will focus on reducing their pain immediately. These people will undergo the "normal" pain-based testing. 2. The second, old pain, we will need to find out WHY they are still in pain. And, this will involve more in-depth testing. And these type of people will often undergo in-depth physiological testing to find out where the issue is.

The difference and benefit that we provide at the Natural Health & Pain Relief Center is that we provide 2 types of diagnostic testing: 1. Functional: determines where the body is malfunctioning 2. Pathological : determines if there is an outside force causing your issue (ie. bacteria, virus, etc.)

For instance, if a person comes in for an auto injury, they will undergo our standard orthopedic, neurological, etc. type of testing to determine where the injury occurred and where and how to treat it appropriately. For someone who comes in with wide-spread muscle pain and fatigue, for instance, we would perform the standard testing as well as functional blood analysis to rule out a sub-clinical thyroid state or rheumatological condition. With the issue of thyroid, instead of testing the TSH (as your normal MD would), we would also add Free T3, Reverse T3, Free T4, and maybe autoimmune markers as well. Then, we would compare that with your cortisol, your DHEA, Progesterone, Testosterone, and Estrogens to see if you have a functional hypothyroid state, and of course treat or refer you appropriately.

In order to determine the CAUSE of your condition, we may perform any one or more of these tests, in addition to the standard Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Occupational Therapy, Orthopedic, and Neurological Exams:

sEMG : shows old and new muscle injuries through muscle activity (ie. will massage or rehab help you)

Thermography: shows heat from inflammation and nervous system disturbances (ie. will chiropractic or laser help you)

Acugraph: shows the electrical activity of the body according to Eastern Medicine (ie. will acupuncture help you)

Dual Inclinometry : shows how well you move

Spirometry : shows your lung function (also tells us the estimated age of your lungs). Helps determine if your scoliosis is causing lung dysfunction. Also helps set a baseline for any asthma treatment or chiropractic treatment.